WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

What's in my clothes? If you're asking that question, you probably expect the answer to be about fabric content. Polyester? Cotton? Wool maybe, or silk. But what about chemicals? You won't find these listed on your typical garment label.

Last Series, Clare interviewed Greenpeace activist Kirsten Brodde, who led the Detox My Fashion campaign, launched in 2011, to force fashion to wake up to the toxic trail of textile production. So what's changed since then?

Chemistry in fashion is still not a mainstream topic, and most people have no idea about chemical use in clothing production. But the fashion industry has made headway.

The Greenpeace campaign succeeded in making fashion take action. Initially 6 brands got behind the formation of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme, with the aim of removing hazardous chemicals from apparel and footwear supply chains by 2020. It's called Roadmap to Zero.

Discover how it works, learn about the wins and find out what's left to be done.

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2020/8/6/podcast-124-chemicals-in-fashion-supply-chains to read yours and #bethechange

Talk to Clare in Instagram and Twitter.

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Have you heard that phrase: from seed to garment? Probably, right? Because most natural textiles are grown in the Earth. Around 24% of textiles are made from cotton, while hemp, linen and wool all depend on soil. But how often does fashion get its fingernails into the actual dirt?

Perhaps it ought to start, because according to the UN, globally, one third soil is degraded. If we carry on like this, we could lose all of our precious topsoil in 60 years. Fashion isn't entirely to blame, but it certainly has it's part to play.

Our guest this week is Swiss-born Londoner with a Masters degree in sustainable agriculture, who is now taking on the fashion world. Nina Marenzi runs The Sustainable Angle, which stages the Future Fabrics Expo. It's all about what she calls ‘diversifying the fibre basket' - or rethinking fashion materials.

The Expo showcases 1000s of fabrics that can help lighten fashion's environmental footprint, from organic and eco-friendly versions of our staples, to recycled synthetics right through to 3D printed seaweed and sustainable sequins.

Nina says we need to step up regenerative agriculture, organic and circular materials, and transition to textiles that have don't trash our soil, water and air, and don't pile up in landfills.

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast in Apple, and join the conversation on social media. You can find Clare on Instagram and Twitter.

Links, further reading and lots more info in the shownotes. Find them here.

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Welcome to Series 3! This Episode is a treat! It features Orsola de Castro, is one of the warmest, most generous, most knowledgable people working in sustainable fashion today. You may know her as the cofounder, with Carry Somers, of Fashion Revolution. But did you also know that she is the queen upcycling?

In the that 1990s, after crocheting around the holes in a much-loved old jumper that she couldn't part with (although it was literally falling apart), she founded the fashion label From Somewhere. Her designs used only discarded, unloved, unwanted materials and turned them into the opposite: treasured, loved, wanted, and highly covetable.

From Somewhere was stocked in stores like Browns in London, and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, Orsola and her man Fillipo, who was also her business partner, did collaborations with the likes of Topshop, Jigsaw and Tesco. Later, they ran Esthetica, London Fashion Week's hub for sustainable for fashion.

These days, Orsola teaches at Central St. Martins inspiring the next generation. She's an in-demand international speaker on ethical fashion, and is the Creative Director of Fashion Revolution. She is passionate about making, mending and loving clothes, and of course about upcycling, but also about treating workers with dignity, and about fashion justice.

In this conversation, we talk about it all - from seeing the world in colours, through inspiring designers, from how to reconnect with your clothes to what sort of fashion future we want to create for ourselves. Enjoy!

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast in Apple, and join the conversation on social media. You can find Clare on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow Orsola here and here.

And last, but most certainly not least, join the Fashion Revolution movement in your country. Thank you for listening.

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According to the Global Slavery Index 2018, fashion is one of 5 key industries implicated in modern slavery. How does that happen? What can we do about it?

In this Episode, you're going to meet Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, a British crossbench peer in the House of Lords who is active in the ethical fashion space and is working to amend the UK's Modern Slavery Act.

Modern slavery is, of course, a depressing issue but this episode is not depressing. No, no. It's got the power! It's all about unleashing your inner activist, understanding the issues and taking positive steps to do something about them - if you're an individual, they can be really small steps. If you're in business, they might be bigger ones.

Lola Young started out as an actor, went onto become a professor of cultural studies then the Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority. She's been a judge for the Orange Prize for Literature, and The Observer newspaper's Ethical Awards. In 2004 she was appointed an independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords. In 2009 she set up the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, which she co-chairs.

What do you think about all this? Please get in touch with Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspress to let us know.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.

CHECK OUT OUR SHOWNOTES for all the links and more info.

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